The national strategic stock is made up of 50 million doses of messenger RNA vaccine (Pfizer and Moderna), "our insurance in the event of an epidemic resumption if it is necessary to vaccinate very quickly and very strongly", indicated the ministry during a press briefing on the vaccination campaign.

When the doses available “exceed national needs, they are directed towards international donations”.

"Despite our best efforts", to date "218,000 doses of AstraZeneca from the national stock have been lost, not given on time and expired", added the Ministry of Health.

This figure is "to be compared to the 140 million doses injected nationally and the 80 million additional doses earmarked for donations", the same source pointed out.

"To date, in national stock, no doses of Pfizer or Moderna have been lost, which have always found a recipient country or been used in the national campaign", according to the ministry.

"Since the very beginning of the vaccination campaign, there has been a colossal mobilization of all the actors in the chain not to lose doses, expensive, precious, which can save lives", to "minimize losses and provide effective and united response to the problem of inventory management", we were assured.

But "maintaining the stock may result in some losses" in the coming months, according to the same source.

Several explanations for the losses have been put forward: "Donations can sometimes take longer than expected or be refused by the recipient countries".

A number of countries have indeed complained of having received doses of vaccines with expiry dates that are too close.

Part of the doses delivered to health professionals could not be injected due to "vaccine packaging" making it difficult to extract all the doses from the bottle, especially for Moderna.

Added to this are "a few losses in the campaigns of + going to +", "a few doses lost among health professionals in the city" linked to the cancellation of appointments at the height of the fifth wave at the beginning of 2022, "more marginally losses related to human error and malicious acts".

Excluding national stock, said the ministry, "we do not have the figures" of lost doses.

© 2022 AFP